[benbsb29]

Originally Posted by kadri007

I had travelled bu Sea Bird Isuzu, the bus is excellent with awesome power, its on par with Volvo and Mercede's.

Good to hear from someone who has used the Isuzu for travel. How would you define the smoothness of the vehicle, along with the offerred refinement?

Binai, nice collection of bus pics. You really have them well-documented!

[kadri007]

Originally Posted by binaiks

There was a news article a while back about the BMTC Isuzu to Airport - haven't seen it on road though.

I saw this bus only once in airport road around 2 months back, but last month had seen it as running as route 25 between JP Nagar and KBS. But currently have not seen it.

Saw some brand new Corona buses near Wilson Garden in Bangalore. It has been taken by NEKRTC.

[kadri007]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

Good to hear from someone who has used the Isuzu for travel. How would you define the smoothness of the vehicle, along with the offerred refinement?

Binai, nice collection of bus pics. You really have them well-documented!

The vehicle is very smooth and the suspension is better than Volvo what I felt, since it came down the Shiradi ghat which has horrible roads more comfortably than Volvo.

I had posted a detailed review earlier in the below link.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/1773509-post349.html

Also Isuzu, Merceds, Volvo photo's from my travel

Picasa Web Albums - Kadri007 - India Bus

[coolclouds]

My friend traveled in Seabird from Chennai to Bangalore last week. He was very comfortable with the bus so that he asked me to book him on a bus to Kochi by Isuzu itself. I booked Padikkal but his feedback about this bus was very bad in terms of seating comfort.

[ranjitp1]

A perfect example of what good roads can do to improving connectivity:

Kesineni has begun Multi-Axle Volvo service on the HYD-Coimbatore sector.Unimaginable till a few months back.Thanks due completely to the 4 laning of NH7 between HYD & BLR and between BLR & CBE leading to reduced travel times.

Route: HYD-HOSUR-NH7-SALEM-Avinashi-CBE.Total travel time announced is 16 hours.For more details check their website.

[pulsar56]

That's a welcome news!
Just checked the website and they have their services to my hometown too.
And the cost, is at par with AC Train fares.
Since the travel time is around 14-16 hours, are the B9Rs equipped with basic facilities like toilets, etc?

[BusyBoyKK]

Originally Posted by pypkmsrikanth

Indeed KPN & Rathimeena have come to an understanding where in they do not ply buses to the routes serviced by the other. Earlier KPN used to run buses to Tirunelveli etc from Chennai which are no more the case, KPN runs only upto Madurai from Chennai beyond which its all Rathi Meena.

Route sharing seems to be the norm now-a-days.
The same is the case with carriers in CHN-VJA-VSKP and CHN-HYD sectors.
Kaleswari exited CHN-HYD and Dhanunjaya has taken over the route.
Kaleswari concentrates on CHN-VJA-VSKP, VJA-HYD, HYD-BOM (soon to enter) etc sectors. It reduced it's CHN-VJA services from 2 to 3. Kaveri Kamakshi is doing the additional CHN-VJA-VSKP route.
While Kesineni is going strong with introductin new routes HYD-GOA, HYD-Coimbatore (Via Hosur, Salem). However Kesineni's service quality is not on par with Kaleswari or Dhanunjaya.

I see parallels between airline operations and bus operations. Soon we may see code-sharing between major players for better fleet management and economy.

[abishek2222]

Traveled by KSRTC karnataka govt bus from Bangalore to Chennai.by a/c Corona sleeper this was a new bus. i'd recommend it over any other volvo service from ksrtc or sharma or any bus its the best ride as you have a sleeping birth to sleep.Make sure you book a side berth while booking online. the suspension was better then the new twin axle volvo's

[conjon]

Originally Posted by pulsar56

Since the travel time is around 14-16 hours, are the B9Rs equipped with basic facilities like toilets, etc?

For a 16hr journey or for that matter on any A/C coach,I would never take that coach if I know there is a toilet on board.
The reason for that is, it could get quite stuffy in the coach once the toilet is used(especially if u are seated somewhere near the toilet) and if the A/C is on recirculation mode it remains stuffy for a long period otherwise the air would clear in about 20 minutes.The journey would not be very pleasant if this happens frequently.

If any one on the forum has travelled on a coach with on board toilet they would definitely know what i'm trying to say.

And do we have a disposal system for chemical toilets at any of the travel service stations?
Hopefully we will have travel service stations in a few years time as the road networks are getting better better in india.

OT:While travelling on a coach, please keep the ipod volume low and be considerate to the other passengers on board.

[sbraj]

Originally Posted by BusyBoyKK

I see parallels between airline operations and bus operations. Soon we may see code-sharing between major players for better fleet management and economy.

Interesting thought. Hope this materializes.

But I see light years of gap between the hospitality offered by, say, Kingfisher Airlines and any of these bus operators.

[teamveevee]

Originally Posted by BusyBoyKK

I see parallels between airline operations and bus operations. Soon we may see code-sharing between major players for better fleet management and economy.

If you read the news paper, The private operator that got license to run buses in Delhi Cluster 1, "Star Bus Pvt Ltd", main investor and CEO is Ajay Singh, also the CEO of SpiceJet. He may assemble "Chinese" buses (I am not a fan of Chinese goods) in the old Daewoo plant in Delhi for their operations. Yes there are similarities.

[ajinkya]

On 16-APR-2010, I rode to Bombay in an MSRTC Shivneri Mercedes-Benz bus. It didn't live up to my expectations. The ride was too harsh. And by that I mean that every time the bus swayed, it tossed me around. Also, the ride was uncomfortably rough. It was like an auto rickshaw! The air suspension barely as good as a BEST bus. The dampers were a joke...Oh the oscillations!

The second big problem I had was with the size of the bus. The aisle was so narrow, I with my pockets bulging with my cell phone and wallet, kept hitting seats on both sides of the aisle, not to mention the bags I carried in my hands. One might think at this point that Mercedes-Benz have sacrificed aisle size to accommodate wider seats while maintaining the overall width of the vehicle. They haven't. What appears to have happened is that they've made the bus narrower which, in my opinion, has made it more unstable and increased the body roll.

Then there's a third problem and this might not seem like a big deal, but I assure you, it's very annoying. The seat reclining lever touches the seat cushion and sticks out so that when you sit down, it pokes your hamstrings.

But don't go away just yet. The Merc doesn't disappoint... if you want to be disappointed, that is. The air conditioning vents aren't very user friendly. They just open and shut. You can't 'direct' the flow of air. Well, not effectively anyway.

And finally, the cherry on the sundae is this: The last two rows at the back of the bus get really incredibly HOT! The engine is right behind/under you and the good folk at Merc seem not to give too much importance to heat insulation between the passenger cabin and the engine bay.

The only silver lining is that most of MSRTC's fleet consists of the Volvo B7R's and 9400's and JCBL/King Long Cerita buses. They are far better than the Merc buses in absolutely every way. And I'm not exaggerating about this. The air conditioning is better, the ride is smoother, the seats are more comfortable, the recliner lever is flush with the side of the seat so that you can push it down like a button and it doesn't make unsuspecting passengers cry out in pain!

Hope you never have the misfortune of having to ride in one of those awful Mercedes-Benz buses.

[IQBAL VEERJI]

Originally Posted by ajinkya

On 16-APR-2010, I rode to Bombay in an MSRTC Shivneri Mercedes-Benz bus. It didn't live up to my expectations. The ride was too harsh. And by that I mean that every time the bus swayed, it tossed me around. Also, the ride was uncomfortably rough. It was like an auto rickshaw! The air suspension barely as good as a BEST bus. The dampers were a joke...Oh the oscillations!

The second big problem I had was with the size of the bus. The aisle was so narrow, I with my pockets bulging with my cell phone and wallet, kept hitting seats on both sides of the aisle, not to mention the bags I carried in my hands. One might think at this point that Mercedes-Benz have sacrificed aisle size to accommodate wider seats while maintaining the overall width of the vehicle. They haven't. What appears to have happened is that they've made the bus narrower which, in my opinion, has made it more unstable and increased the body roll.

Then there's a third problem and this might not seem like a big deal, but I assure you, it's very annoying. The seat reclining lever touches the seat cushion and sticks out so that when you sit down, it pokes your hamstrings.

But don't go away just yet. The Merc doesn't disappoint... if you want to be disappointed, that is. The air conditioning vents aren't very user friendly. They just open and shut. You can't 'direct' the flow of air. Well, not effectively anyway.

And finally, the cherry on the sundae is this: The last two rows at the back of the bus get really incredibly HOT! The engine is right behind/under you and the good folk at Merc seem not to give too much importance to heat insulation between the passenger cabin and the engine bay.

The only silver lining is that most of MSRTC's fleet consists of the Volvo B7R's and 9400's and JCBL/King Long Cerita buses. They are far better than the Merc buses in absolutely every way. And I'm not exaggerating about this. The air conditioning is better, the ride is smoother, the seats are more comfortable, the recliner lever is flush with the side of the seat so that you can push it down like a button and it doesn't make unsuspecting passengers cry out in pain!

Hope you never have the misfortune of having to ride in one of those awful Mercedes-Benz buses.

Dear brother as per your experience and sufferings in a 3 hrs trip, imagine the plight of those who travel in a similar bus to Gujarat and Rajasthan from Mumbai on overnight trips. It looks like they must be dammn tired after the journey ends.

[DRIV3R]

So nothing great about it, except the fact you are travelling in a 3 pointed star. Volvo's , especially the new multi-axle 9400's are the ultimate in comfort and noise insulation.

[anku94]

That sounds like everything Merc is not known for....